Oh, don’t get me wrong. I am a big fan of the Middle Ages, even of feudalism. I just think that the Church got a little too embroiled in it.
The Church was a major part of that society because it controlled about 10% of the estates of Europe. The Church constantly struggled to keep the nobility from taking that property by getting the right to choose bishops and abbots et al. As it was, enough nobles gained office to bias the Church to the nobility. Still it was an institution that often rewarded personal merit, both men and women.